[GIS] How to write a GeoPandas dataframe into a single file (preferably JSON or GeoPackage)

fionageopackagegeopandasjsonpython

I'm new to GIS and having a basic beginner problem. I've got data in the form of a geopackage .gpkg from GADM.org. I can read in and use the data without problem using Geopandas (via built-in Fiona).

I've added and deleted some columns to the data, and changed some column names to ones more intuitive to me (for ease of later use and consistency across files). Minor edits.

Now I want to export the data to a file format that is easy to later read into Python as a GeoPandas dataframe. However, whenever I try

CityShapeFile.to_file('CityShapeFile_edited.gpkg',encoding='utf-8')

No matter which format I choose (e.g. gpkg, json, shp, …) I don't get a single file, but rather a folder with 5 files: *.cpg, *.dbf, *.prj, *.shp, and *.shx. I'm sure those files together contain all the data I need, but in order to read the data back into Python I really need it in one file (as far as I know). Considering the original data I downloaded is in a single gpkg file, this seems possible and probably normal, but how to do it?

I read in the Fiona manual that it can write zipped shapefiles, but I couldn't find any simple example of doing that with a GeoPandas dataframe, nor am I sure whether that can be read in correctly. So,

How do I write a GeoPandas dataframe into a single file (preferably JSON or GeoPackage)?

Best Answer

To write to GeoJSON: dataframe.to_file("output.json", driver="GeoJSON")

To write to GeoPackage: dataframe.to_file("output.gpkg", driver="GPKG")

Documentation is here, though somewhat sparse.

Related Solutions

[GIS] How to load mapinfo mid/mif into GeoPandas

I think you were doing things just fine, I'm wondering if it's just the dataset. I'm thinking you were trying to open the Cycleways dataset, yes (based on your variable name of cylpaths)? I first tried the "Car Parks" dataset on that site, and it worked with your code:

>>> from geopandas import GeoDataFrame
>>> df = GeoDataFrame.from_file("CARPARKS.mid")
>>> df
<class 'geopandas.geodataframe.GeoDataFrame'>
Int64Index: 81 entries, 0 to 80
Data columns (total 9 columns):
CARPARKNAME    81  non-null values
CODE           81  non-null values
FEATURECODE    81  non-null values
MI_PRINX       81  non-null values
MI_STYLE       81  non-null values
ORIGIN_X       81  non-null values
ORIGIN_Y       81  non-null values
UPRN           81  non-null values
geometry       81  non-null values
dtypes: float64(5), object(4)

I then tried the "Cycleways" dataset, and got the same thing as you, nothing:

>>> cyc = GeoDataFrame.from_file("CYCLEWAYS.mid")
>>> cyc
Empty GeoDataFrame
Columns: [geometry]
Index: []
>>> cyc["geometry"]
Series([], dtype: float64)

Finally, I tried to open the "Existing Shopping Areas" dataset, and it worked fine as well:

>>> shops = GeoDataFrame.from_file("EXISTINGSHOPPINGAREA.mid")
>>> shops
<class 'geopandas.geodataframe.GeoDataFrame'>
Int64Index: 6 entries, 0 to 5
Data columns (total 23 columns):
ADDRESS      6  non-null values
CODE         6  non-null values
...
TAG          6  non-null values
UNIQUE_ID    6  non-null values
UPRN         6  non-null values
geometry     6  non-null values
dtypes: float64(2), object(21)
>>> shops["geometry"]
0    POLYGON ((391004.768 343418.116, 391043.64 343...
1    POLYGON ((388249.762 347724.09, 388246.163 347...
2    POLYGON ((387592.015 345241.407, 387621.012 34...
3    POLYGON ((386842.681 349747.805, 386825.301 34...
4    POLYGON ((386823.752 349815.999, 386822.978 34...
5    POLYGON ((385983.258 351384.922, 385981.446 35...
Name: geometry, dtype: object
>>>

So, maybe it's just the original Mapinfo files perhaps?

[GIS] Geopandas: Write layer back into GeoDataBase

As with Fiona where you can specify the driver when you save a layer, you can do the same thing with GeoPandas (Writing Spatial Data)

GeoDataFrames can be exported to many different standard formats using the GeoDataFrame.to_file() method. For a full list of supported formats, type import fiona; fiona.supported_drivers.

In my case:

fiona.supported_drivers
{'ESRI Shapefile': 'raw', 'OpenFileGDB': 'r', ..., 'FileGDB': 'raw',...}

The OpenFileGDB driver is Read-only ('r', provides only read access to File Geodatabases)
If you want read and write access, you need to use the FileGDB driver ('raw')

If the driver is not installed, a solution is given in How to add support for FileGDB (Esri file gdb API) driver in fiona?

layer.to_file("result.gdf",driver="FileGDB")

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[GIS] How to load mapinfo mid/mif into GeoPandas

[GIS] Geopandas: Write layer back into GeoDataBase

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